1) What are the policies about ELL students under NCLB?
-Title III of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act requires that all English language learners (ELLs) receive quality instruction for learning both English and grade-level academic content. NCLB allows local flexibility for choosing programs of instruction, while demanding greater accountability for ELLs' English language and academic progress.
-Under Title III, states are required to develop standards for English Language Proficiency and to link those standards to the state's Academic Content Standards. Schools must make sure that ELLs are part of their state's accountability system and that ELLs' academic progress is followed over time
Here are some of the NCLB requirements concerning ELLs:
All ELL students' English language proficiency must be tested at least once a year.
All ELLs have to take state academic achievement tests in language arts and math, except that ELL students who have been in the U.S. for less than one year do not have to take the language arts test for that first year. If available from the state, ELL students can take these language arts and math tests in their native languages.
ELL students who have been in U.S. schools for three consecutive years must be tested in reading/language arts using a test written in English, although on a case-by-case basis, this period can be extended up to five years.
ELL students as a group must meet specific annual targets of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Schools, districts, and states will be held accountable for ensuring that they meet these targets.
Curricula must be demonstrated to be effective. Language instruction curricula used to teach ELL children are to be tied to scientifically based research and demonstrated to be effective.
Local entities have the flexibility to choose the method of instruction to teach ELLs.
States must establish standards and benchmarks for raising the level of English proficiency and meeting challenging state academic standards for ELL students that are aligned with state standards.
Annual achievement objectives for ELL students must relate to gains in English proficiency and meet challenging state academic standards that are aligned with Title I achievement standards.
Parents must be notified by the local education agency concerning why their child needs a specialized language instruction program. Parents have the right to choose among instructional programs if more than one type of program is offered and have the right to remove their child from a program for ELL children
- The U.S. Department of Education granted Washington’s waiver request from certain Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) requirements in July 2012. The decision gives Washington the opportunity to implement bold reforms around standards and accountability. It also allows state and local educators to decide how to best meet the individual needs of students they serve.
-Washington State’s waiver is currently in danger of being revoked.
2)What does CCSS say about the education of ELL students? What might this mean for your classroom or the ELL program at the school where you are student teaching?
The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers strongly believe that all students should be held to the same high expectations outlined in the Common Core State Standards including English language learners (ELLs).
However, these students may require additional time, appropriate instructional support, and aligned assessments as they acquire both English language proficiency and content area knowledge.
Many ELLs have first language and literacy knowledge and skills that boost their acquisition of language and literacy in a second language; additionally, they bring an array of talents and cultural practices and perspectives that enrich our schools and society. Teachers must ...provide those students who need it with additional time and appropriate instructional support. This includes language proficiency standards that teachers can use in conjunction with the ELA standards to assist ELLs in becoming proficient and literate in English.
To help ELLs meet high academic standards in language arts it is essential that they have access to:
• Teachers and personnel at the school and district levels who are well prepared and qualified to support ELLs while taking advantage of the many strengths and skills they bring to the classroom;
• Literacy-rich school environments where students are immersed in a variety of language experiences;
• Coursework that prepares ELLs for postsecondary education or the workplace, yet is made comprehensible for students learning content in a second language
• Opportunities for classroom discourse and interaction
• Ongoing assessment and feedback to guide learning
• Speakers of English who know the language well enough to provide ELLs with models and support.
Mathematics ELLs are capable of participating in mathematical discussions as they learn English. Mathematics instruction for ELL students should draw on multiple resources and modes available in classrooms—such as objects, drawings, inscriptions, and gestures—as well as home languages and mathematical experiences outside of school.
Mathematics instruction for ELLs should address mathematical discourse and academic language. This instruction involves much more than vocabulary lessons. Language is a resource for learning mathematics; it is not only a tool for communicating, but also a tool for thinking and reasoning mathematically. All languages and language varieties (e.g., different dialects, home or everyday ways of talking, vernacular, slang) provide resources for mathematical thinking, reasoning, and communicating. Regular and active participation in the classroom—not only reading and listening but also discussing, explaining, writing, representing, and presenting—is critical to the success of ELLs in mathematics. Research has shown that ELLs can produce explanations, presentations, etc. and participate in classroom discussions as they are learning English. ELLs, like English-speaking students, require regular access to teaching practices that are most effective for improving student achievement. Mathematical tasks should be kept at high cognitive demand; teachers and students should attend explicitly to concepts; and students should wrestle with important mathematics. Overall, research suggests that:
• Language switching can be swift, highly automatic, and facilitate rather than inhibit solving word problems in the second language, as long as the student’s language proficiency is sufficient for understanding the text of the word problem;
• Instruction should ensure that students understand the text of word problems before they attempt to solve them;
• Instruction should include a focus on “mathematical discourse” and “academic language” because these are important for ELLs. Although it is critical that students who are learning English have opportunities to communicate mathematically, this is not primarily a matter of learning vocabulary. Students learn to participate in mathematical reasoning, not by learning vocabulary, but by making conjectures, presenting explanations, and/or constructing arguments; and while vocabulary instruction is important, it is not sufficient for supporting mathematical communication.
Furthermore, vocabulary drill and practice are not the most effective instructional practices for learning vocabulary. Research has demonstrated that vocabulary learning occurs most successfully through instructional environments that are language-rich, actively involve students in using language, require that students both understand spoken or written words and also express that understanding orally and in writing, and require students to use words in multiple ways over extended periods of time. To develop written and oral communication skills, students need to participate in negotiating meaning for mathematical situations and in mathematical practices that require output from students.
1) What are the policies about ELL students under NCLB?
-Title III of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act requires that all English language learners (ELLs) receive quality instruction for learning both English and grade-level academic content. NCLB allows local flexibility for choosing programs of instruction, while demanding greater accountability for ELLs' English language and academic progress.
-Under Title III, states are required to develop standards for English Language Proficiency and to link those standards to the state's Academic Content Standards. Schools must make sure that ELLs are part of their state's accountability system and that ELLs' academic progress is followed over time
Here are some of the NCLB requirements concerning ELLs:
- The U.S. Department of Education granted Washington’s waiver request from certain Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) requirements in July 2012. The decision gives Washington the opportunity to implement bold reforms around standards and accountability. It also allows state and local educators to decide how to best meet the individual needs of students they serve.
-Washington State’s waiver is currently in danger of being revoked.
Read more: “WA State May Be Forced To Revive NCLB” on Huffington Post
__http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/21/washington-no-child-left-behind_n_4828183.html__
What about the Common Core?
2)What does CCSS say about the education of ELL students? What might this mean for your classroom or the ELL program at the school where you are student teaching?
The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers strongly believe that all students should be held to the same high expectations outlined in the Common Core State Standards including English language learners (ELLs).
However, these students may require additional time, appropriate instructional support, and aligned assessments as they acquire both English language proficiency and content area knowledge.
Many ELLs have first language and literacy knowledge and skills that boost
their acquisition of language and literacy in a second language; additionally, they bring an array of talents and cultural practices and perspectives that enrich our schools and society.
Teachers must ...provide those students who need it with additional time and appropriate instructional support. This includes language proficiency standards that teachers can use in conjunction with the ELA standards to assist ELLs in becoming proficient and literate in English.
To help ELLs meet high academic standards in language arts it is essential that they have
access to:
• Teachers and personnel at the school and district levels who are well prepared and qualified
to support ELLs while taking advantage of the many strengths and skills they bring to the
classroom;
• Literacy-rich school environments where students are immersed in a variety of language
experiences;
• Coursework that prepares ELLs for postsecondary education or the workplace, yet is made comprehensible for students learning content in a second language
• Opportunities for classroom discourse and interaction
• Ongoing assessment and feedback to guide learning
• Speakers of English who know the language well enough to provide ELLs with models and support.
Mathematics
ELLs are capable of participating in mathematical discussions as they learn English. Mathematics instruction for ELL students should draw on multiple resources and modes available in classrooms—such as objects, drawings, inscriptions, and gestures—as well as home languages and mathematical experiences outside of school.
Mathematics instruction for ELLs should address mathematical discourse and academic language. This instruction involves much more than vocabulary lessons. Language is a resource for learning mathematics; it is not only a tool for communicating, but also a tool for thinking and reasoning mathematically. All languages and language varieties (e.g., different dialects, home or everyday ways of talking, vernacular, slang) provide resources for mathematical thinking, reasoning, and communicating.
Regular and active participation in the classroom—not only reading and listening but also discussing, explaining, writing, representing, and presenting—is critical to the success of ELLs in mathematics. Research has shown that ELLs can produce explanations, presentations, etc. and participate in classroom discussions as they are learning English.
ELLs, like English-speaking students, require regular access to teaching practices that are most
effective for improving student achievement. Mathematical tasks should be kept at high cognitive demand; teachers and students should attend explicitly to concepts; and students should wrestle with important mathematics. Overall, research suggests that:
• Language switching can be swift, highly automatic, and facilitate rather than inhibit solving
word problems in the second language, as long as the student’s language proficiency is
sufficient for understanding the text of the word problem;
• Instruction should ensure that students understand the text of word problems before they attempt to solve them;
• Instruction should include a focus on “mathematical discourse” and “academic language” because these are important for ELLs. Although it is critical that students who are learning English have opportunities to communicate mathematically, this is not primarily a matter of learning vocabulary. Students learn to participate in mathematical reasoning, not by learning vocabulary, but by making conjectures, presenting explanations, and/or constructing arguments; and while vocabulary instruction is important, it is not sufficient for supporting mathematical communication.
Furthermore, vocabulary drill and practice are not the most effective
instructional practices for learning vocabulary. Research has demonstrated that vocabulary learning occurs most successfully through instructional environments that are language-rich, actively involve students in using language, require that students both understand spoken or written words and also express that understanding orally and in writing, and require students to use words in multiple ways over extended periods of time. To develop written and oral communication skills, students need to participate in negotiating meaning for mathematical situations and in mathematical practices that require output from students.